Dealing With Cholesterol Without Statins

[B R Shooter]

I have reactions to statins. I've been on probably 5 different types and have a reaction one way or another. Even Zetia. So my qest is to try and keep the numbers down to a level where my doc doesn't go ballistic. My biggest fear is insurance. If I had an cardio issue, and I wasn't keeping my cholesterol down by prescription, they could have a case of denial.

I'm aware of most non-statin "remedies", fish oil, red yeast rice, policosanol, beta sitasterol, etc.

What has worked for you?

[Grandpas50AE]

My doctor also wanted me to take statins to get cholesterol down, but I refused and instead elected to use Flaxseed Oil. I use the gel caps. Flaxseed oil has Omega3's and Omega6's just like fish oil, but the Flaxseed Omega6's are already in desaturate form while the fish oil is not. Omega6's have to be converted to desaturate form for your body to use them, so I decided on Flaxseed Oil. Over the last two years my HDL has gone up to almost 60 (the good ones), LDL has dropped from over 200 to 140 (the bad ones you want to lower), and the triglicerides are now under 80. My doctor no longer suggests or recommends statins because he has seen the steady improvement just using the Flaxseed Oil.

Hope this helps; good luck.

[mold maker]

I really can't say what works. My total numbers have always been low, and the HDL numbers are high. Even so the Dr insist on me taking a statin. I to, have had reactions to several, and so far the simvastatin has the least side effects. Of course I don't like the dangers involved, but He's the Dr. At 70 which is worse, my already low numbers, or the drugs?:?

[44man]

I too had a reaction. I am just short of 75 and have a very high level but my good stuff is also very high.
I have to think it is a hoax to sell drugs. I tried the junk for a short time and quit fast. Your body makes the stuff and it is needed. I eat tons of real cheese, real butter and a 1/2 pound of bacon is just a start.
I will always think it is genetic when something happens to you and drugs will solve that problem but will kill you in other ways, faster then the first problem.

[41 mag fan]

6 yrs ago i got my Cholesterol and triglycerides checked. My bad cholesterol was 475 and my triglycerides were so high they were off the chart (as my dr told me). So he put me on meds. I stayed on them like 2 days and said heck with that, I don't want to take pills.

3 yrs ago, I got "papered" for the coal mines and started belt and aircourse examinations. Daily walking 5-7 mi, and on the weekly aircourse exams I'll walk an avg of 13mi.

Went 3 mo ago finally and decided I need to actually let the dr give me a checkup and all.

Bloodwork comes back and my bad cholesterol was 204, triglycerides were normal, as dr said, so no meds. After looking back at what i had and what I'm at now, he told me to keep exercising and I'll not need meds.

High cholesterol, heart disease ect ect runs heavily on both sides of my parents families.
I think exercise is the best thing or prescription for me.

[kenyerian]

The only thing that works for me is Diet. Oatmeal for Breakfast, lots of fish etc.

[felix]

Half jar of Olives for lunch 6 days a week; wash off salt. No red meat except for 1 time per week. In one month all was fine for me. ... felix

[btroj]

Diet and excercise. Obesity and a high fat diet are contributing causes.

There are older drugs such as Questran that can help too. It works by binding bile salts in the intestine so they are not reabsorbed in the large intestine. Ike contain large amount of cholesterol based salts to aid in breaking down fat in the diet.

Personally, I like the responses that mentioned diet and excercise. Those are the real answers. Your body is like your car, take care of it and it will take care of you! If you abuse your car and don't treat it well is it really a surprise when it breaks down?

[Bulldogger]

I also cannot take statin drugs. They work so well after two days on minimum sample dose, I felt like every joint was bone dry.

I do this: Oatmeal several times a week, plenty of vegetables (a little pat of butter to ease them down), cut down red meat and bacon/sausage (unless wild game sausage and not too much fat in) down to once a week. Eat more venison and other game meats for red meat, make beef a treat. If venison, etc., OK to eat 2-3 per week. Use peanut oil or olive oil instead of butter. Splurge on fancy olive oil with flavor, so you'll want to use it.

Changing your diet shouldn't be a punishment, rather, you're just trying new things. I don't skimp on fresh food items, get the best for the money (I don't automatically buy the most expensive, of course). Garbage in, garbage out, as they say. Treat yourself to fresh leafy greens whenever possible.

And get some walking in. It is as easy as parking a little farther from the storefront, not driving across the parking lot to get to another store in the same block, or getting off the bus/train one stop early, etc. It doesn't mean having to set aside an hour a day to stare at a TV while on a treadmill while on a $1000/yr gym membership.

These got my good cholesterol up, bad down slightly. It evens out. Also I don't take everything the Doctors say at face value. They are encouraged to push statin drugs because they are now generic and cheap. When I started watching my cholesterol levels, the "bad" level tipping point was 225. Now it's 190, and I believe it is because of cheap statin drugs. However, since my family are mostly 250+ cholesterol level folks (Mama was at 360 when she finally found an anti-statin that didn't give her aches), I figure that we're normally high cholesterol folks. Only one close relative has had a heart attack which might be related to heart disease, all the rest either died from accidents or lived past 80 (and Great Granny made it to 104 cooking everything in lard or bacon grease until she was 90).

Review your family history for heart disease and decide what level is good for you. Getting several miles walking in every week alone will extend your life, cholesterol or not.

Bulldogger

[Wayne Smith]

Some of it is a drug selling scam. Some of it is old research that has not been re-done since we can measure more accurately.

For heart attacks you need to pay more attention to triglycerides than cholesterol. You might look up information on cholesterol ratio rather than absolute numbers. If your good cholesterol is very high the MD's will think it is a problem when there is absolutely no current research that supports that assumption.

Realize that medical research is amazing, but the successes that have occurred in the past ten or so years leads us to believe that there should similar amazing success in every area, and that is not possible. We are still years away from understanding the body, if we ever do.

High total cholesterol may be related to stroke, and if there is a history of stroke in your family you may need to monitor that value more closely. If there is a history of heart attack monitor your triglycerides.

Exercise is a major factor in reducing both. I am not talking about a casual walk, but exercise that causes you to break out into a sweat and is cardio as well will reduce these values.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

So some if you folks are saying that the statin family can cause joint pain?
Mr doc recently switched me from simvistatin to a Lipitor generic,
and I feel like every joint on my body has been twisted 180 degrees ever since.
I had not made the connection to the switch / pain till I read the above.

I honestly have always wondered if the drugs really lower the levels or simply skew the test numbers?
Seriously, how do we know?

[btroj]

Not generally joint pain as much as a muscle pain.

If you are having ANY potential side effect from ANY medication you need to speak to your physician.

[Reg]

My doctor also wanted me to take statins to get cholesterol down, but I refused and instead elected to use Flaxseed Oil. I use the gel caps. Flaxseed oil has Omega3's and Omega6's just like fish oil, but the Flaxseed Omega6's are already in desaturate form while the fish oil is not. Omega6's have to be converted to desaturate form for your body to use them, so I decided on Flaxseed Oil. Over the last two years my HDL has gone up to almost 60 (the good ones), LDL has dropped from over 200 to 140 (the bad ones you want to lower), and the triglicerides are now under 80. My doctor no longer suggests or recommends statins because he has seen the steady improvement just using the Flaxseed Oil.

Hope this helps; good luck.

How much of the flax seed oil do you take ? Any particular brand ?
Thanks

[square butte]

Do a simple web search for "natural treatment for high cholesteral" . You will find enough ideas there to keep you busy for quite a few years. Having worked in natural health care for 20+ years, I can tell you that many of the ideas there will work to one degree or another. And you will find a few that will work exceptionally well for you. Just gotta try em and use a little diciplne. You will find the right ones shortly.

[bearcove]

Watch "Forks over Knives" Streams free on most places. Netfix Amazon...

[Rick N Bama]

Like others I can't take the Statins without having joint pain. Right now I'm on a product called "Welcoh" which is doing a good job, but it's very expensive even with my insurance kicking in. As soon as this prescription is finished I'm going back on a powder that is mixed with water called "Prevalite". Both do a good job of controling the numbers, but the Prevalite is a Generic that cost me about 1/4th of the Welcoh cost.

Rick

[32ideal]

felix what type of olives green or black?
32ideal


Half jar of Olives for lunch 6 days a week; wash off salt. No red meat except for 1 time per week. In one month all was fine for me. ... felix

[felix]

What ever tastes best to you. ... felix

[runfiverun]

they both taste good with some olive oil and minced garlic on them.
a little feta cheese, crackers or some pita bread.
hard to beat as a lunch or snack.

[B R Shooter]

Well, I'm 57, not overweight, and I can do more work than most 57's I know, and I keep quite busy when not at work here at home. Do I do exercises? No, I do a pretty fair amount of walking and climbing stairs at work, then work at home. We eat our own food, rarely eat out at fast food or restaurant. And our food is non-gmo, and organically grown. No commercial fertilizers are used. We eat a real variety of foods, lots of veggies and we do eat meat. We butcher a couple pigs each year, and the beef we buy is locally grown. Not that it means it's better per se, but it is raised on grass and grown feed. We do buy chicken and turkeys, but try to buy "organic".

I don't recall the numbers of my tests, they aren't way above the norm, but enough that the doc says it needs to go down.

[oneokie]

Exercise is a major factor in reducing both. I am not talking about a casual walk, but exercise that causes you to break out into a sweat and is cardio as well will reduce these values.

Something like digging post holes with iron handled diggers, clearing land with a double bit axe, splitting wood with a maul and wedges, hauling small square bales of hay? Acutal physical labor?:holysheep

[rexherring]

Mine is always good but my wife's is (or was) high. I do most of the cooking in our house because I like it so I went to a low fat olive oil or one that has no saturated fats. We also started to eat way more fruits and vegies and less red meats. Higher fibers, whole wheat breads and pastas. Baked or broiled meats, lots of chicken, pork, and fish. a plus to this was also my wife losing some weight and she felt better as a whole. We never suffered from any food withdrawl and I still use lots of good flavors like Mrs. Dash, garlic, onions, coarse pepper, peppers, red and yellows too.

[Bob in Revelstoke]

I like my olives in a martini glass. (But then, that's another problem)

[firefly1957]

Years ago my doc said while my total Cholesterol was just under 200 my good was to low and tried me on statins i had problems right away so he put me on Niacin. My good Cholesterol never did go up but last year my left shoulder froze for no reason looking though the net i found a link between Niaspan and muscle damage? So I stopped that one what i really need is a good doctor not one that follows the book but looks at what is going on with me. I am healthy a bit over weight 55 years old no heart disease in family and they are trying to kill me with side effects of medicines for something that is borderline to begin with! One odd thing my total Cholesterol went down after i retired and started eating eggs at breakfast? Doctor still whining as good Cholesterol went down as well.

[MtGun44]

My problem was low HDL, bad ratio with LDL. Total Chol was usually 155. I
take statins and LOTS of fish oil, like 6 of the big caps per day, 2 at breakfast,
2 at lunch and 2 at bedtime, with 1 gram (1000 milligrams) of niacin. Niacin
gives me the creepy hot skin feeling, but not if I am asleep, so I take it just
before I go to bed. Numbers are crazy low, like total chol under 100 and
ratio about 1:1 or so between HDL and LDL, with trigl off the map low,
so low I forget and they are never an issue of discussion. I do eat very
carefully, low fat as much as I can, never fried foods, lots of fruit, etc.
Niacin is nonprescription Slo-Niacin from Sams Club.

Working well for me, but this is WITH statin, 40 mg Simvastatin at night.

Bill

[Wayne Smith]

Something like digging post holes with iron handled diggers, clearing land with a double bit axe, splitting wood with a maul and wedges, hauling small square bales of hay? Acutal physical labor?:holysheep

Yes, all that and more! I have always hated exercise for the purpose of exercise. Didn't mind working all day. Now I sit on my posterior all day at work. When I was Dx'ed with diabetes it scared me. We had a hydraulic stepper and i got on it, fell off after about 2.5 minutes. Exhausted. By the end of the month I was on it for 30 min. straight. Today we cleaned leaves off the lawn, three hours of work. I will be on the exercise bike for 30 min. and do over nine miles two to three times a week. I am lifting weights the off days.

I was on meds for cholesterol, triglycerides, and high BP. Within two months of my exercise regimen I was off all those meds and have stayed off. The only other thing we did at the same time was start eating a diabetic diet, counting carbs. I am still managing the diabetes with diet and exercise and my numbers keep my MD happy.

[bearcove]

Meds treat the symptoms not the problem.

[JLDickmon]

Not generally joint pain as much as a muscle pain.

If you are having ANY potential side effect from ANY medication you need to speak to your physician.

it causes a condition similar to jaundice where toxins collect in the muscle fibers.

Lipotor caused that with me, simvistatin[sp] does not

Best advice I can give you is life-style changes, brah...
I had a stent put in around my birthday.
I took Health Ed classes as part of my cardiac rehab.. I can tell you what's bad for you just by glancing at the label. I can compare two "health" foods and throw the BS flag on one.
There's different kinds of dietary fiber..
grain fibers (oat, whole wheat, psyllium) will lower your bad cholesterol but raise your blood sugar because they carry starches along with them.
green vegetable fibers aren't "spongy" enough to lower your cholesterol but do contain doses of certain essential vitamins (A, B1, B2, B5, B6, B9 & K)
yellow veggies neither, but they're good sources of B3 and K
Fish oils are high in Omega 3's (lower cholesterol and triglycerides), but so is flax seed and walnuts..
Cheeses, other dairy, red meat (white is lowER, but still pretty high) most anything animal in origin is going to contain cholesterol.

Fish is best, white game meats (rabbits, fowl) are pretty good, skinless white meat from chicken is next, venison is better than beef..

alcohol is high in sugars, I'm still working on that one..

you're stomach is about the size of a 1lb can of Hodgdon. Read the serving amounts on the labels. Weigh it out on your powder scale if you have to (4lb kitchen scales are cheap) and toss it in there to get a visual..
it's gonna open your eyes how much green and yellow veggies you gotta put in there.

[JLDickmon]

Something like digging post holes with iron handled diggers, clearing land with a double bit axe, splitting wood with a maul and wedges, hauling small square bales of hay? Acutal physical labor?:holysheep

1.5 times your resting heart rate. Most people, it's 72 beats/minute, so 110 bpm, and at a workload you can keep up for 45 minutes to an hour..

[cajun shooter]

What most people and doctors seem to forget is that we are not all from the same mother and father.
My doctor finally agreed with me on my last visit after 8 years of prescribing every medication that is made to treat this problem.
Now for my disclaimers, that is not to say that some meds and types of treatment may work wonders for one person but not others. A good example is the olives that were posted by Felix. I eat olives quite a lot every week as I love them but still suffer from too low HDL and too high LDL.
My mother is 85 and is 5ft 3in. and weighs 112 pounds. Her number have been the same as mine all her life. The doctor told me that I was the same as her and the numbers point it out.
I eat a very healthy diet that has no fried or take out meals. We eat fish, turkey,chicken and lots of greens.
Even with the statins, my numbers don't budge.
Christmas of 2011, they thought I was having a very severe heart attack and rushed me to the ER. They were taking me to surgery when a much smarter doctor came in and shut the entire thing down. They said I needed a pacemaker and the smart doctor said no after reading my list of meds. He advised that the meds prescribed by my family doctor had caused my heart to stop pumping and losing pressure. They kept me for a week and readjusted my meds and I was fine again.
My cardiologist did a rotor-rooter on me and advised that all my arteries were wide open with no sign of blockage or needed stints.
I take fish oil three times a day and a niacin capsule at night along with my many Diabetic meds.
If you have never had a complete check up with a heart doctor then I advise you to do so.
I no longer allow my regular doctor to prescribe any BP meds, or anything to do with my heart.
MT44Gun, if you feel your face being flush then you are having a niacin overload. The remedy is to take a couple of aspirin and it will go away.
I love bananas and one day I ate two and still took my pill of niacin. My face felt as if it was on fire. My wife called the pharmacist and she advised me to take 2-3 aspirin right away. I did and within 15 minutes I felt normal again. You may need to take a smaller dosage.

[RickinTN]

A freind can't take cholestorol medications because of digestive tract issues. He started taking a tbs of Chia seed each morning either with a bowl of oatmeal or yogurt. His cholesterol dropped 20 points in two weeks. Apparently it works for him. I started the regimen some time ago, but like a lot of things got out of the habit.

[375RUGER]

You will be better off if you can do natural remedies, exercise and diet.
My motto is- if doctors and pharmaceutical companies were in the business of curing you, then they would be in the business of putting themselves out of business.

You may look at silica (diatomaceous earth). http://www.earthworkshealth.com/human-use.php
I take this daily but not for any specific health reason other than my homemade toothpaste that I made to stop bleeding gums (which it did).
It is supposed to lower cholesterol among other things.
My Dad has been taking it for some months now and reports that his arthritic pain is "greatly reduced" and his blood sugar has dropped 20 pts over the average, and still going down.

[Wayne Smith]

Those of you on Niacin and aspirin and fish oil be aware that all three are blood thinners. I was on them and had a nosebleed that took the ER eight hours to stop. Stopped all but the fish oil (taken for memory) and, after a dicey year or so of frequent checks and keeping my BP very low I appear to be back to normal.

[Frosty Boolit]

I was the same old story... High cholesterol, triglycerides, high bad fat, low bad fat. I was 29 years old and my doctor referred to my situation as "abysmal". So I said I did not want to be on meds so I stuck a non specific diet for six monts and everthing was in an acceptable range. This diet was high in polyunsaturated fats and low in saturated fat. I always read the labels on food and avoided fatty red meats (think venison). I really think the oatmeal 4 days a week helps. I snacked on nuts and sun chips. I also cut out all unnecessary sugar and salt. In addition to the improved blood chemistry I also lost 20 lbs. I wish you luck and perserverance.

[trevj]

I'm with the exercise crowd.

If you think you are getting exercise while trundling yourself around at work, you really need to quantify that and see how much 'work' you are doing. You'd probably be surprised at how few calories you are actually burning, and how little you are actually making your body work. Get a step counter and set it up for yourself. Better yet, get on a treadmill, and see how long it takes to burn a doughnut worth of calories. :)

No pill in a bottle will make up for a lack of maintenance on ones own physical body. Save them for solving problems you cannot solve by other means.

That's my two bits anyways.

Steer clear of Doctors. Have you seen all the sick people they are in contact with? :)

Cheers
Trev

[GT27]

Walking like some of the others have said,and cutting out anything fried and the sweets. Stinks getting older, but it's better than the alternative!

[badgeredd]

I recently had to quit the statins due to muscle pain and general soreness. I now take a niacin supplement and continue the Omega 3 caps 3 times a day. My HDL is staying where it should be and my LDL hasn't increased. Statins may be okay for most, but in my case they are not. Exercise and diet alone didn't help, but the Omega 3 brought my HDL up into an acceptable range while lowering my LDL a bit. My mother who is 84 never took a statin and broght her HDL up and reduced her LDL with a niacin supplement. One size does NOT fit all and the MDs need to open their minds to this fact.

Edd

[nicholst55]

Watch "Forks over Knives" Streams free on most places. Netfix Amazon...

+1; go on the Engine 2 Diet (not really a "diet" - a lifestyle change). Read Eat to Live, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

[MANGYCOYOTE]

Do a little research and you will find:
1. FDA now admits that statin drugs can cause diabetes, several studies have confirmed this.
2. there is a huge increase in diabetes in the last 10 years-guess why?
I started taking Lipitor when it first came out, at the tender age of 66 I "caught" diabetes!
I now take 3 more pills for diabetes and niacin & fish oil to replace the statin drug.
Another victory for the pharmecutical industry!

[foxtrotter]

The reason Drs. cite for reducing lipids is that they're trying to reduce your chance of a stroke or heart attack. The problem is that they're dealing with an incidental cause. According to at least one Dr. I've read the real problem is the interior surface of the arteries is too rough and snags the cholesterol and causes a blockage much like a flooding river caches uprooted vegetation and dams itself up. His remedy is organic minerals, particularly copper and selenium to increase the elasticity and smooth the blood pathway.

[Wayne Smith]

I'm with the exercise crowd.

If you think you are getting exercise while trundling yourself around at work, you really need to quantify that and see how much 'work' you are doing. You'd probably be surprised at how few calories you are actually burning, and how little you are actually making your body work. Get a step counter and set it up for yourself. Better yet, get on a treadmill, and see how long it takes to burn a doughnut worth of calories. :)


Cheers
Trev

Just as an example, when I do the 9+ miles on the exercise bike I am typically burning around 250 calories! That's not even half a brownie.

As far as increasing elasticity of the veins, believe it or not a little alcohol helps. One to two drinks a day max, though, and if you have a genetic history of alcoholism don't go there.

[725]

Fish oil brought mine down, and I eat junk food alot. Too much.

[smokeywolf]

My cardiologist wanted me to go on a couple of meds that would pretty much put the kibosh on any more boudoir gymnastics. Instead I went on a vegetarian high fiber diet for about 4 months. I was allowed almost no oils and 1 cup of non fat dairy per day. Breakfast was high fiber cereal or oatmeal with fruit. One of my favorite meals was a giant baked potato slathered with fat free sour cream and covered with salsa. Ate a lot of rice, beans, and salsa. Started swimming, bicycle riding, or walking. In 3 months my LDL cholesterol went from 247 down to 150. Blood pressure and heart rate went down too. Now I maintain with Krill oil (like super fish oil), baby aspirin, Resveratrol in pill form and in the form of very dry, high tanic red wine. Cut way back on the red meat and keep up the exorcise.

smokeywolf

[44man]

All of you are being told your level is too high and you need drugs.
How about a level of 320? Yeah, it is that high but I am fine at 75 years old. My secret is I refuse to take junk.

[lcclower]

I recommend getting the Berkeley Heart Lab (http://www.bhlinc.com/) tests.

There's a variety of LDL's, only one that's particularly bad, and BHL test breaks your LDL down to useful numbers.

There's some specific genetic markers that BHL reads and correlates with dietary recommendations specific to your body.

Exercise. No getting around that part.

I'm 62 and my total runs around 150 and my HDL is crowding up on 100. I take a statin (generic) and an omega supplement (tri-omega).

[longhorn]

Oh my, where should I begin to comment? "High" cholesterol isn't a disease, it's a symptom-a symptom of inflammation in or throughout the body. The statins as a class have all sorts of fascinating side effects-I'd try essentially anything else first, including vegetarianism. Virtually everything mentioned so far is worth trying. Fish oil will improve cholesterol ratios, but won't lower total cholesterol, it's still extremely important. Dietary changes are essential, but weight loss is actually a secondary benefit. Exercise is wonderful, probably for stress relief and cardiac conditioning, secondarily for weight loss--just remember, in the huge majority of the population even an extreme exercise regimen will only lower total cholesterol about 10% or so, 90% of the body's cholesterol is produced by the liver, it's not dietary. Try everything, just so your doctor will leave you alone, and you delay statins as long as possible. Or get real smart and hook up with an interested nutritionist or naturopath. PM me if you want a recommendation and I'll try to help.
From your friendly non-local pharmacist/naturopath

[B R Shooter]

Thanks to all who have posted here, many great ideas.

[plainsman456]

Get some walnuts and eat 1/4 cup a day.

In 6 weeks it will lower the bad stuff.
I eat more that that now,just for snacks,it seems to take away some of the cravings for eating the things that are not so good for you these days.

It has something to do with the omega3,s.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Well. after reading this thread and commenting last week,
I removed myself from Lipitor for 3 days now.
My knees and ankles already feel better.

[bearcove]

My cardiologist wanted me to go on a couple of meds that would pretty much put the kibosh on any more boudoir gymnastics. Instead I went on a vegetarian high fiber diet for about 4 months. I was allowed almost no oils and 1 cup of non fat dairy per day. Breakfast was high fiber cereal or oatmeal with fruit. One of my favorite meals was a giant baked potato slathered with fat free sour cream and covered with salsa. Ate a lot of rice, beans, and salsa. Started swimming, bicycle riding, or walking. In 3 months my LDL cholesterol went from 247 down to 150. Blood pressure and heart rate went down too. Now I maintain with Krill oil (like super fish oil), baby aspirin, Resveratrol in pill form and in the form of very dry, high tanic red wine. Cut way back on the red meat and keep up the exorcise.

smokeywolf

Thats what I'm talking about fix the problem. Don't treat the symptoms.

Watch the movie Forks over Knives. It is real.

[popper]

Had mine checked the last 30 yrs, never changes. Low good, high bad, triglycerides high. Doc put me on lovastatin ~10 yrs ago. Still hasn't changed any. Oat cereal for breakfast, PB or lunchmeat sandwich for lunch, some kind of meat salad for dinner - same routine for 20 yrs. Take all the vitamins oils, etc. From what I read, the cholesterol is the fat, triglycerides are the wrapper around the other, moving it to it's final resting place. Felix - I sure did like the burger at George's place.

[375RUGER]

Doc put me on lovastatin ~10 yrs ago. Still hasn't changed any.

So why take the meds if it doesn't help?

[DLCTEX]

After trying 4 different statins I refuse to take any more. Joint pain, muscle ache, hearing loss, extreme fatigue. I think the stuff would kill me. I got off them and feel better than I have in many years.

[ErikO]

I've been off my statin script for better than six months. So far so good and I just got a notice that the last one I was on has been recalled due to glass fragment contamination...

I'm due to get my blood work done in January again, numbers should be ok. Omega-3's in salmon (wild Alaskan, not farm raised) and a daily dose of tumeric have worked well so far.

[popper]

I may drop the statin. Didn't take it for a week, was hiking long hikes(>5 mi) for me and felt good. Went back on them took, a walk around the park and I'm sore again.